Biennale makes lifetime architecture award to Paolo Mendes

MILAN – The Venice Biennale has announced that the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement in architecture is being awarded to Brazilian architect Paolo Mendes.

The Biennale on Friday cited the timelessness of Mendes' architecture, saying "each of his projects have resisted the test of time, both stylistically and physically." They also cited "his ideological integrity and structural genius," and praised him as a role model for generations of architects from Brazil and Latin America.

Mendes, 88, has previously been honored with the Mies van der Rohe Prize in 2000 and the Pritzker Prize in 2006. He gained early acclaim for the gymnasium in the Paulistano Athletics Club in Sao Paolo, Brazil, completed in 1957 and distinguished for its elegant profile.